The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who may share interests, activities, real-life connections, or backgrounds, such as similar employment positions. A social network service consists of a representation or profile for each user, his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. Popular social networking services include Facebook™, Google+™, and Twitter™, which are widely used worldwide.
Social network communications, or network feeds, include a wealth of information that businesses might be able to use for business development, lead generation, lead nurturing, and/or marketing. Since many social network services exist, some with millions of network feeds, sorting through network feeds to identify potentially helpful business information is a challenge. Even if a business developer has the time and the technology to identify potentially helpful business information communicated in the millions of network feeds, the business developer might not be able to determine the correct identities of the social network users who communicated the potentially helpful business information because many social networks enable their users to specify their own identities. For example, if a social network user who communicates potentially helpful business information uses a profile identified by “Sales Molly 66,” a business developer may not be able to identify the individual who communicated this information, much less determine whether or not this individual is employed by a prospective client for the business developer's products and/or services. Lacking such information, the business developer's attempts to respond to network feeds might result in a significant waste of time and effort, as most responses may be sent to individuals who are in no position to authorize the purchase of the business developer's products and/or services. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide techniques enabling a database system monitoring network feeds to improve the performance, efficiency, and the ease of use for business development, lead generation, lead nurturing, and/or marketing.